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Osaka

Osaka was our base for Christmas 2022: winter sun at Osaka Castle, the Glico man over Dotonbori at night, and the retro streets of Shinsekai.

Osaka was our base for Christmas 2022, the city we kept coming back to between day trips. It never once felt like the supporting act.

Selfie of Dileep and Inga in front of Osaka Castle, its green roofs and gold trim rising above the trees under a blue sky
Christmas Eve at Osaka Castle, all green copper and gold trim in the winter sun.
Inga and Dileep at night in Dotonbori in front of the illuminated Glico running man billboard and a wall of neon signs
The obligatory Glico man photo in Dotonbori. Everyone around us was taking the same one, and rightly so.
Dileep and Inga in winter jackets under the Osaka Shinsekai entrance arch with Tsutenkaku Tower rising behind it
Shinsekai a few days later: older, scruffier, fried-food-scented Osaka. We mean all of that kindly.

From here we spent Christmas Day among the temples of Kyoto and took the train onward to Hiroshima. Osaka fed us, hosted us and sent us off each morning; the takoyaki alone would justify a return.